The present invention relates to a coordinate determination method of an observation apparatus, such as a microscope with an automatic sweep unit, having its own coordinates determined within an observation range so that an object to be observed can be positioned and observed at any of the coordinates, and more particularly to a coordinate determination method by which a specified position in a sample which position is observed by an apparatus A and checked using the coordinates of the apparatus A can be determined easily in an apparatus B having coordinates different from those of the apparatus A when the same sample is observed by the different observation apparatus having their respective own coordinates.
A rapid microorganism detection system using an ATP-luciferase method, for example, observes the presence of microorganisms by causing a luciferin-luciferase reaction using adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which exists peculiarly in a mass in a living cell, so as to detect faint luminescence generated in proportion to the content of ATP by means of a photodetector. This state of luminescence is imaged by means of an image acquisition unit such as a charge coupled device (CCD) so as to be visually observed. However, according to this method, although the presence of the microorganisms can be observed to a slight extent, the kinds of the observed microorganisms cannot be recognized.
Therefore, in order to accurately specify the microorganisms whose presence is observed by the above-described method, it is necessary to observe a sample used in the above-described method by a microscope. In order to make these two observations skillfully and efficiently, it is important to specify, with ease in a short time, positions at which the microorganisms exist in the sample and designate the positions by means of an automatic sweep unit for examination position provided to the microscope so that the objective microorganisms can be observed immediately.
However, when the sample is checked by the above-described rapid microorganism detection system (hereinafter referred to as an RMDS) and further observed by the microscope with the automatic sweep unit (hereinafter referred to as an SFDS), the coordinates of the RMDS, as they are, cannot be used as those of the SFDS. Therefore, the microscope separately requires an adjustment, thus forcibly requiring time and complicated operations.
In other words, the coordinates of the RMDS and the SFDS do not have a direct correlation, and the respective units of the coordinate axes thereof do not have any correlation, not to mention the origins thereof. (For example, the coordinate axes provided for the RMDS for position confirmation employs as a scale unit one pixel of an image acquisition unit employed. On the other hand, the scale unit of the coordinate axes provided for the sweep unit of the SFDS is millimeters.) For example, if a sample of the RMDS were a filter 47 mm in diameter, on which filter an enzyme of one cell exists, it would be necessary to observe a visual field of 3,000 with a magnification of 100 and that of 6,000 with a magnification of 200 when the sample is observed by the microscope. However, practically, the observations cannot be made in this way. (In this case, the areas of the visual fields of the respective magnifications would be 0.76xc3x970.76 mm and 0.53xc3x970.53 mm.)
This problem is not limited to the usages of the RMDDS and the SFDS, but is in common with the usages of observation apparatus having means for determining their own coordinates within observation ranges and for indicating and designating the specified positions of objects to be observed by means of the coordinates.
The present invention eliminates the above-described conventional disadvantages, and the object thereof is to obtain a coordinate transformation method in which a correlation is established between the coordinates of observation apparatus having their respective coordinates for position designation so that a position in one observation apparatus is specified based on position data from the other when the same sample is observed by the observation apparatus.
The present invention is made in the light of the above-described disadvantages and eliminates the disadvantages by adopting the following processes.
In other words, the present invention is a method of transforming a first coordinate system for position designation of a first observation apparatus into a second coordinate system for position designation of a second observation apparatus. The first and second coordinate systems are different from each other. The present invention is characterized by adopting the following processes.
(1) Preparing a sample for coordinate determination in which sample at least three observation points are set in random positions.
(2) Placing the sample on the sample base of the first observation apparatus to observe the above-mentioned observation points and read the coordinates thereof ((X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), and (X3, Y3)).
(3) Marking randomly the sample and the sample base so as to determine the relative positions thereof.
(4) Removing the sample from the first observation apparatus and setting the sample in the second observation apparatus. Putting randomly a mark on a holding unit (for example, a slide glass) for holding the sample so that the mark corresponds to the marked position in the sample when the sample is placed on the sample base (including the original coordinates of the second observation apparatus) or the sample holding unit of the second observation apparatus. Setting the sample in the second observation apparatus so that the marked position in the sample corresponds to the mark. Hereafter, setting the sample so that the marked position corresponds to the mark whenever the sample is observed by the second observation apparatus after being observed by the first observation apparatus.
(5) Reading the coordinates ((x1, y1), (x2, y2), and (x3, y3)) of the positions of the observation points set in the sample by using the original coordinates of the second observation apparatus.
(6) Letting one of the above-described observation points serve as temporary origins (for example, (x1, y1) and (X1, Y1)).
(7) Calculating a, b, c, and d of coordinate transformation formulas xn=aXn+bYn and yn=cXn+dYn by substituting the coordinates of the other two observation points into the above-described formulas. Substituting obtained values into the above-described formulas to determine the coordinate transformation formulas. Correcting the values of xn, yn, Xn, and Yn to be substituted thereinto to values based on the respective temporary origins (to give a correlation).
(8) Correcting the determined transformation formulas so that the determined transformation formulas are adapted to the original coordinate system of the second observation apparatus (correcting the first coordinate system based on the temporary origin thereof to the original coordinate system of the second observation apparatus) (xn=aXn+bYn+x1 and yn=cXn+dYn+y1).
(9) Observing the sample by the first observation apparatus and reading the value of an observation point in the sample ((X4, Y4).) . . . ).
(10) Calculating (x4, y4) by substituting the value confirmed in the process (9) into the coordinate transformation formulas determined in the process (8).
(11) Moving the sample to the second observation apparatus and inputting the value of the above-mentioned coordinates to the position determination means (a sweep unit) thereof so as to designate a position.
Through the above-described processes, the coordinates of the observation points in the sample confirmed by the first observation apparatus can be transformed into the coordinates of the observation points in the second observation apparatus. Further, by providing the second observation apparatus with the above-described coordinate transformation function, the coordinates of the observation points confirmed by the first observation apparatus, as they are, can be used to designate positions in the second observation apparatus.
Moreover, the observation apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by having a position determination means including a first coordinate system, which means includes a coordinate transformation means for transforming a second coordinate system of the position determination means of another observation apparatus into the first coordinate system, which is different from the second coordinate system.
According to the observation apparatus of the present invention, a coordinate value confirmed by another observation apparatus is directly input to the observation apparatus of the present invention to be transformed into an original coordinate value thereof and output to the position determination means thereof.